Letters
by Cherryqueen567
Summary: It was just a regular day when MeiMei and Kiku met, but after a couple of months, the WWIII has started. Will Kiku come back alive? Main pairing: TaiPan, containes side pairings. Warning: human names are used. One-Shot.


_Letters_

_Tenth of January_

MeiMei woke up groggily in the morning. She wondered if he was still alive. She wondered if he was okay. She wondered if he wrote her another letter.

Just a few months earlier, the twentieth of January to be exact, Russia declared war to America.

It wasn't something shocking, the whole world knew about the political relationships between these two countries. There was an atomic explosion in Ural. After the terrible accident in Russia, the half European country was left devastated. So, in need for financial support, the government asked for the large sum of money that America owed them. America refused.

With the help from other countries, Germany, Italy, France, Russia was able to recover. And soon, the ex-communist and the country of liberty started preparing for the upcoming war. There were many documents of alignment signed.

In the end, England, France, Japan, South Korea, The Northern Europe, China allied with America. Russia was left with North Korea, Germany and Italy. It was World War III.

MeiMei was a Chinese girl with long brown hair and shiny brown orbs. Her parents had immigrated to Japan when she was still a toddler. And now, now the girl had graduated the university and there she met Kiku.

It was love at first sight. Kiku was a transfer student and was late for class. MeiMei, who was also late, accidentally ran into the Japanese man.

The moment she saw his deep intoxicating onyx pools that were supposed to be his eyes, she was lost in them.

"Oh, I apologies for my clumsiness," he helped her up.

"N-no," finally shaking off the impact of those eyes, she continued. "I wasn't paying attention. It's my fault."

They both smiled and helped each other to get their books.

"Are you new here?" MeiMei asked the man.

"Yes. I am the transfer student, Honda Kiku," he introduced himself.

"I'm MeiMei. I'm already late for class, so how about I help you to find yours?" she offered.

Kiku nodded and thanked her. It happened so that they both had the same schedule.

After that, they started to become more intimate and at the end of December, Kiku asked her out. MeiMei agreed, of course. She was head over heels for him the moment she laid eyes on the guy.

Right when they graduated the university, the war started. Every man in the family below forty was to go and help their ally. Kiku was nineteen.

And now, the couple kept in touch thanks to the bunch of letters that MeiMei did everything to keep safe. Even when there were bombs, she would keep them close.

_Knock, Knock! _

MeiMei got up to answer the door. It was her neighbour, Yao Wang. The man was an ex-general, so he went to the army and checked up on things, but unlike the others, he was able to come 'home'.

"Hello, there," the old man smiled at her.

It was snowing outside. It was cold in the house, too.

"Hello, Mr. Wang. Let me get you some tea," MeiMei threw on another jacket and went outside for snow. She was running out of water.

After collecting a few piles of snow, she put it in the teapot. She checked everywhere for some herbs but found only a thick layer of dust instead.

"It seems like I ran out of tea," she laughed.

Yao smiled.

_The poor girl_, he thought. This war was doing nothing good. This war was just tearing up families. This war was killing the youngsters from the inside.

"It is okay, MeiMei. You don't have to give me anything. Just knowing that you are alive is all I need," he smiled.

The girl looked up at the man, who had become her father figure. Her own one died recently from another bombing session.

Yao kept his hair long for some reason she never understood. He had soft features which made him look a bit more feminine than needed, but MeiMei knew what shit he had gone through. He used to have about five children. He loved them dearly. But they were all taken away by the war. Yao was heavily ill with tuberculosis, too. The old man blamed it on the war.

The girl brought out a hard loaf of bread.

"Sorry, all I have at the moment is bread. When spring comes, I'll be able to catch fish. So wait until then, okay Mr. Wang?"

Yao took a little piece from the bread and put it in his mouth. He savoured the taste and felt a tear roll down his cheek. God bless this girl. The neighbourhood was dying from hunger on the streets yet she put out bread for him.

MeiMei grew worried. Why was he crying? Did something bad happen to him? Or was Kiku injured or…dead?

Silently, the older man took out a piece of paper. The girl sighed in relief. They both were okay.

_MeiMei,_

_How are you doing there? I heard the neighbourhood was dying from hunger. I hope you have enough food to live through the winter. _

_I am fine here. But still, I miss you a lot. I found a friend here. His name is Arthur. The guy is from England but he speaks Japanese pretty well. Arthur has a little brother Alfred and they fight a lot, 24/7 to be exact. But they both care a lot for each other. Today, Alfred got shot in the leg so he wasn't able to run away from more bullets. Arthur saw that and ran to him as if his brother's life mattered more than his own. In the end, Arthur got shot in the arm, but was still able to protect his brother. It touched me to the core and gave me more spirit to help to end this war as quick as possible. _

_I think__ there is this 'group' here, Arthur, Alfred, Francis, Im Yon Soo. They all are from different countries (except Arthur and Alfred) but they are really good friends, not to mention funny. At times it even makes me think if this is actually a real war… but as soon as we hear the gunshots, we come back to reality._

_Is this war even needed? Sure, America did act wrong by not giving the money back, but couldn't have they at least given a little piece of the money? Maybe the trace of the Cold War is still there._

_I miss you dearly, MeiMei. Are you fine there? Is Mr. Wang taking good care of you? Don't worry about me at all, okay? Tell me if you are low on eating supplies, I think Mr. Wang could be able to give some to you from me. As mentioned above, don't worry about me. Don't even forget that I love you, okay?_

_-with love,_

_H. K._

MeiMei burst out in tears after reading the letter.

It should be her who should be worrying her head if he was alive or not, not him! If matters got worse for her, she could always live on water. Spring wasn't so far anyway. But _he _was fighting in an army where thousands of people died.

She felt the fatherly hug he gave her. She started crying even more. Why was this even happening? Why was this war even happening? Did they really need it? Couldn't have the government thought of a better thing than a war?

This whole thing was eating her from the inside.

Yao put a hand on her head and patted it softly. No words were needed. Their situation was critical.

_Second of April_

MeiMei couldn't sleep last night. She kept having nightmares. She kept dreaming that Kiku was dying. She couldn't sleep last night at all.

The brunette stifled a yawn and got out of the cranky little house. She needed to catch more fish to live.

The girl mentally patted her back for being able to save as much as snow as possible. She had to have water no matter what. Soon there won't be any fish or anything at all. So, her last chance at living would be the water she saved.

After a few hours, MeiMei happily hummed to herself as she went back to the road. She caught five fish today. Mr. Yao and she were going to have a feast today.

Suddenly, her ears picked up the familiar sound of yet another bombing session. This was bad. She ran and ran and ran. She ran as fast as she could. She knew the woods or anything like that was a bad idea. So she ran to the direction Mr. Wang taught her to go if there was a bombing session and she was not home.

At last she saw the stairs. Jumping and skipping two at a time, she found herself in some kind of underground safety room. She found Mr. Wang there, too.

"Oh, thank God! Thank God that you are alive MeiMei!" Yao hugged her.

MeiMei was relieved to find out that her 'father' was alive, too. She hugged him back as tight as she could.

"Certain someone told me to give this to you," he smiled.

MeiMei smiled and gave him some fish. Surely the man should be hungry. She also gave him some salt from her little pouch, she took wherever she went.

_Hi, MeiMei,_

_Things are going well, here. Our side is actually winning. I think I will be home pretty soon. Just a few more fights and I think it will be just fine._

_We have got a new recruit. Guess what. There is a Russian family in there. Alfred and Arthur aren't very good with the brother, Ivan. He seemed like a nice guy but it felt as if he was beating around the bushes. You know what I am talking about, right?_

_Natalya and Katya, the sisters of Ivan, are nurses, here. To be honest, we all are a bit of afraid of Natalya. She is a scary woman. One time when her brother got injured before her very eyes, she got an MK-47 from us and killed almost half of the soldiers! But Arthur got a crush on her, so he tries to visit the nurse's office as much as he could._

_Katya, the oldest sister, is really weird. She is really afraid of blood and cries whenever she sees it . When Natalya was killing men there, Katya fainted. Instead, it was me who had to do the nurse's job. I don't get why she became a nurse if she faints at the first sight of blood._

_I promise you that as soon as this bloody war is over, I promise you, we'd get married. Hanging out with Arthur is bad! Because of him I started to say the world 'bloody' a lot. _

_I really miss you. How are you there? I heard from Mr. Wang that you weren't eating well. If you won't eat well, I am going to scold you for life, so don't get me angry, okay? _

_Take care,_

_-with love,_

_H. K._

"Don't believe what he said about the war ending soon," she heard Yao's gruff voice.

"Why?" the girl asked, too happy with the fact that she was engaged.

"The Russian army was able to defeat the Napoleon, and it was also one of the main reasons the World War II ended. The Russian army can think of anything. Not to mention that they are more than angry with America for not helping them in time of need," Yao sighed.

MeiMei got quiet. Her father was right. The Russians were powerful. What was she supposed to hope in then? Well, she would have the blind hope she always had, the hope that everything would end happily ever after.

She knew that this hope was most unlikely, though.

"The fish is delicious by the way," Yao smiled. "Come on. Let's sleep. We can never know if the bombing is over."

MeiMei nodded and tried to sleep on the cold floor. Good thing she had had a warm jacket on.

_Sixteenth of June_

The brunette went to sleep that night in Mr. Wang's house. Hers was destroyed by the last bombing session. She found a few clothes scattered everywhere, but nothing more. She was really happy that all of her letters were safe in her pouch.

Yao Wang wasn't home today. He went to the army. As he thought, the Russians had a back-up plan. They were about use explosion in their attacks. The government decided that they needed Yao Wang to lead the attacks and put an end to all this shit. The old Chinese man was happy to oblige. He was sad to leave his 'daughter' alone to defend for herself, though.

"I am a big girl, now! Don't worry about me!" she protested.

MeiMei wasn't able to sleep again. She was worried sick. Through the last few months, Yao's tuberculosis worsened. No one even bothered to help him. There was a war going on, the hospitals were full of people, a guy with tuberculosis wasn't so important for them.

The brunette did everything she knew to find the medicines for her dear father. And at last, she did find some. She had to give all her water supplies to get them. All she could do now was to hope that Yao was taking them. Somebody knocked on the door.

Groggily getting up, she opened it, praying to anyone out there, that it wouldn't be some soldiers with bad news.

There was a blond man with thick eyebrows and apple green orbs. He looked worn out. He looked somehow familiar.

"Are you MeiMei?" he asked. His 'r' wasn't that clear. An Englishman, she guessed.

The brunette nodded, in return. He was wearing the Japanese army uniform, so maybe it was okay to let him in. But there was a war brewing out there. So who knew, maybe this was a spy?

"I am Arthur, Kiku's friend. He asked me to send this to you. And, can I stay here for the night?"

Arthur…

Suddenly, MeiMei understood who this man was. It was Alfred's brother, the guy who had a crush on the Russian nurse Natalya.

She looked down at his hand. Arthur was holding a piece of parchment.

"Sure, come in. And thanks, Arthur."

She wondered how much Kiku trusted this man, to let him give her a letter.

"So how did you end up here?" MeiMei tried to start a conversation.

Arthur sighed. "General Yao ordered us to go to the west and that from there, we would attack. To let the enemy lose our tracks we were put in different divisions. In the end, we all were divided. Our little _walk_ said to stop by this village. Kiku told me to give that letter to you and tell you, direct quote, 'MeiMei you won't believe how I am starting to hate these Russians! Not only did they ruin all our plans for our marriage. But they also won't let me to even see your face!' he had a very frustrated face, to be honest," the Englishman gave out a low chuckle.

MeiMei also laughed along with him and decided that this new friend of Kiku was a nice gentleman. She quickly went to her refrigerator and pulled out a set of dried fish. Quickly boiling some water, the girl was able to make _dinner_ for her guest.

"Thank you for the meal," he whispered and dug in.

MeiMei also ate a bit. Truth to be told, she was getting sick of eating fish. But it was all she had. The fish in the river ended. Nothing was left there except bad, even dead, water.

_MeiMei,_

_Miss you a lot. Sorry I wasn't writing much. But don't worry, okay? I'm alive and I am not writing from the otherworld or anything. Mr. Wang came by and told me everything about what was happening there. I hope that Arthur told you why I wasn't able to see you. And I hope he told you about the Russians. _

_Don't get scared by Arthur, he is actually harmless. The guy won't hurt a fly… well, if the fly is my friend that is. _

_Yao is a good and an experienced general, so I think the war will end soon, at least in Japan. It doesn't help that Japan and Russia are really close to each other. All we have to do now is to push the Russians away from our country and lead the rest of the war on their territory._

_Don't tell me if I start to sound like Mr. Wang. He is, after all, my uncle. _

_Nothing exciting happened here, yet… or maybe you should ask Arthur. He could tell you a few things about how he beat up Francis. Sometimes, I feel sorry for Francis. _

_I hope you are okay. And I also hope you haven't found another. As always, love you, MeiMei._

_-with love,_

_H. K._

_P.S. don't ask about Natalya from Arthur._

_P. P. S. I think I won't be writing much._

She laughed out loud.

"You seem to love Kiku a lot," Arthur smiled.

"Yeah… who wouldn't?"

That night they talked about a lot of things and they laughed. It seemed as if there wasn't a war.

If only Kiku was there to see them.

That night, MeiMei decided that Arthur Kirkland was officially a family friend of theirs.

_Two years later_

A woman in her early twenties stood on the square, just like many other women, waiting for their beloved persons. Her eyes were raving over the whole place for the cars, the cars that brought _them_. Her fiancée and her father figure were supposed to come here by some car any second now.

Finally the long awaited cars came. Women cried and ran to the cars.

MeiMei was no other, though. Tears came to her face automatically. The hope of seeing Kiku and Yao was so great that all logic left her. At last, she saw that mushroom haircut and those extraordinary eyes that were seeking for her. Their eyes met. Lightning passed through their gaze.

"Kiku!"

"MeiMei!"

They hugged and kissed, just like the other couples in the crowd.

"Oh Kiku, I am so happy to see you! I missed you so much! How are you? Are you okay? Did you get any fatal injuries or something?" the brunette started checking his body. He smiled and let out a small laugh in return.

"No, I am fine. What about you? God, I missed you, MeiMei," he took her chin for a kiss.

"Oh, where is Yao by the way?" she asked after the brief kiss.

"Right here!" they heard a distant voice.

The couple looked to the direction of the sound and saw a coughing man. The man looked older than she remembered. His hair and his face were all the same. In fact, every man who went to the war looked older than they were supposed to.

"Tuberculosis?" MeiMei asked knowingly. "Was he taking the medicine I gave him?" she looked expectantly at her fiancée.

"Well, he got a lot better, but the pills ended. We don't know where to find it."

After finding their way back to the underground house Yao and MeiMei stayed at, the girl smiled sheepishly.

"Mine and Mr. Wang's were bombed during the war. Speaking about war, is it over now?"

The men shook their heads. "No, but the war between Russia and Japan did end. We won," Kiku smiled.

"Aiyaah, youngsters," Yao sighed making the couple laugh.

After a few years, when the doctors cured Yao Wang and the economy got stable enough, Kiku and MeiMei married.

The marriage was one of that every girl dreamed of.

MeiMei was wearing a beautiful white dress with a pink hue. Kiku wore a black suit. His best man was Arthur, while hers was Natalya. Over the years, Natalya was able to open up to MeiMei and they both made really good friends.

Yao Wang walked her on the carpet that was fully made of flowers. The wedding took place at dawn. The whole city was invited.

"Dream come true," MeiMei whispered to herself as the priest exclaimed that Kiku and her were officially husband and wife.

Kiku smiled softly at her and kissed her.

Indeed it was a dream come true.

**I blame narusaku4eva for making me ship TaiPan. But still, she was unable to stop my addiction to BelUK, no matter how crack it got, it would always be my favourite :D well, if you liked this, please review. Don't be too shy to critique me. Flames are most welcome.**

**~Cherry**


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